When the cold and gray looking winter months arrive in my home state of New York, it’s time for me to start my photography travels to warmer climates, and Death Valley Photography out in the National Park, is an awesome place to start.

It is located on the southeastern edge of California with a small extension into western Nevada and is the hottest and driest area within North America. It has extreme elevations, from -282 feet below sea level to over 11,000 feet above sea level.

It boasts hills, mountains and canyons with majestic rock formations, desolate desert landscapes, dried river beds, a large variety of vegetation, and stunning sand dunes. The utter solitude of locations within the park is unparalleled to any other national park.

It can get brutally hot during the summer months (above 120 degrees), so December thru February will be your best time to visit if you want to enjoy Death Valley photography. It is also the slowest time for tourism, which will allow you relatively private and peaceful excursions throughout the park.

I have been to Death Valley several times and it is definitely one of my favorite places to visit.

One of the best places to start your journey is in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, you will want to stock up on food and supplies. I can’t stress this enough! There is only one small general store in Death Valley and the prices are just what you would expect from an establishment that knows you have no choice but to pay $2 for a roll of toilet paper or $4.99 for a can of chili. The drive to the park is only about an hour and a half and is quite uneventful.

Make sure you fill up for gas in Parhump before you enter the park, because that’s pretty much your last interaction with civilization.

There are gas stations in Death Valley, but remember, you are in the middle of nowhere and running out of gas is a very bad thing. ALWAYS fill the tank every morning and fill it up again anytime you pass one of the gas stations in the park.

Death Valley has a great road system that allows you to see more sites than you will ever have time for in just one week’s visit. Just make sure you have a vehicle which will handle off-road driving. Four-wheel drive is definitely a feature you want in your rental vehicle.

There are many backcountry roads that are well maintained, but there are also many that are not maintained at all. Watch the signs and when you see one that says “advanced off road skills required”, believe it! Should you decide to rent a car or van, just be sure you have a spare tire and a jack, as flat tires could be an issue.

Death Valley Photography – Photo Opportunities

Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes are not to be missed at sunrise or sunset. The light bouncing off the sand crystals is spectacular and makes the ground look golden. Get up about an hour or two before the sun comes up and start hiking. You’ll want to get as far out as you can so that you won’t have all the other photographers in front of you with their tripods.

This is the most popular set of sand dunes for mornings and evenings because it is very close to the hotels.

Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes

Eureka Valley Sand Dunes are huge! The dunes are among the tallest in North America, reaching upwards of 700 feet. You’ll want that heavy duty vehicle here, as the journey to this location is on rough dirt roads. And even if you trek in to the dunes at midday, they are still a great photographic site to behold, with a parched and cracked valley floor around their parameter.

Valley Floor

Eureka Valley Sand Dunes

Near Eureka you’ll find an old abandoned sulfur and talc mine. The colors of the minerals range from reds to pure white and will challenge your camera’s auto white balance settings, so try a few different combinations until you get the best results.

Darwin Falls is the oasis of Death Valley. You hike about 1.5 miles through a rock canyon which develops into lush green forests until you ultimately come to a beautiful waterfall. Often deserted, this is also a great midday location because the shade keeps the harsh sunlight at bay.

Darwin Falls consists of the small lower falls at the trails end and another larger waterfall above that requires a dangerous climb. I made the climb once and found myself disappointed with the upper falls, so I don’t recommend it. But if you want to be one of those few people to go for it, you have been warned of the treacherous climb!

Darwin Falls

The Racetrack is one of the most well known attractions of Death Valley. It’s here that you will find the infamous moving rocks. These strange rocks fall from the nearby Grandstand and other rock formations and actually slide slowly across the clay lakebed, leaving a trail behind them as evidence of their travels.

Some move just a couple of feet, while others have moved hundreds of feet. No one has seen them move, so there are all sorts of theories, from magnetism to rain freezing and pushing the rocks when the ice flow moves, to high winds and alien intervention.

My personal theory is there are a couple guys that sneak out in the middle of the night with a big rope and drag the rocks around. Then they sit up on the mountain with binoculars and laugh at the scientists studying the phenomenon. You can pick your own theory, but no matter what you believe the rocks are awesome to photograph.

The shadows and depth of field you can achieve are spectacular, and even though this location is rather remote, it is wonderful for both sunrise and sunset images and getting the best out of Death Valley Photography.

The Racetrack and The Grandstand

The 2oo square mile salt flats in Badwater Basin are below sea level and utterly amazing. You’ll see their true beauty and character if you take a bit of a hike and go beyond where the tourists haven’t walked on it. The salt crust is quite delicate and the crystals will be crushed with each step you take.

This is another wonderful opportunity to work with depth of field, as you will have mountains and hopefully a colorful sky as your backdrop.

Salt Flats

These are just a few of the highlights of the park. Just seeing all these will take several days, so if you have more time, there are a multitude of other places for you to explore as well. Trust me, you will not run out of photographic opportunities.

The equipment I recommend is simple and easy to carry. There is no need to lug around heavy gear. Wide angle lenses are a must and the biggest you will need is about a 200mm, just so you can change the perspective a bit. Most of the images were taken with a 16-35mm.

Because dust is a huge problem for photographers in this area, I carry 2 camera bodies so I don’t have to change lenses and risk getting dust on the camera sensor. One has the 16-35mm and the other has a 70-200mm. And be sure you pick up a couple cans of air from Vegas before you leave town. And a tripod of course is needed for your low light work, and as always, polarizing filters will be your friend.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit Death Valley, then by all means, place this on your Bucket List. You won’t be disappointed.

by Michael Leggero

Death Valley Photography – Some Useful Tips

Death Valley Photography – Photo Opportunities

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